I started having contractions Sat night (4/28) but they were really mild so I just thought that they were the normal braxton hicks that I get every night. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up around 3am to go to bed. Between 3-7am, I woke up a few times with contractions but I still didn't think I was in labor because I always get woke up at night with pains. I didn't think I was really in labor until around 7am. I told my DH that I was pretty sure that I was in labor but it wasn't too bad at that point. My contractions were about 10 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds or so. I got up and took a shower thinking that maybe I was just having false labor and they would stop once I took a shower. They didn't stop, so I let my m/w know what was going on. I labored all day, with the contractions getting closer and closer together. I couldn't sit or lay during them but if I stood or squatted with DH rubbing my back, I could handle them. At no point did I think I couldn't get the contractions. They never got bad. Around 7:30, they really started picking up. They were starting to get closer and closer together. At that point, they were about a minute or two apart. At that point, my m/w still hadn't got here because she was at another birth (I don't think she thought I was going to go as fast as I did). We already had the birth pool filled up, so around 8:30, I got in. As soon as I got in, I felt like I needed to push. I started to freak out a little bit because it was just DH, my mom and I here. I had DH call the m/w to see if she was on her way because I was pushing.

She got here about 10 minutes after I started pushing. I was still in the pool at that point. During pushing was the only time that I ever lost my cool. I had so much pressure on my pelvis that it made it hard to push. I never screamed but I said a few choice words with those contractions. Around 9pm, my m/w checked me to see the position of the baby. Unfortunately, I had an anterior lip, so I had to get out of the pool and come back to our bedroom. I pushed in several different positions but ended up laying on the floor. DH was right next to me and I about squeezed his hand off during each push. The pelvic pain was replaced with the ring of fire. It was around 11pm when he started to crown. At that point, my water still hadn't broke, so I was pushing him out in the sac. I felt like I was going to tear but I never did. My water finally broke around 11:30 when his head finally came out. That was the best feeling EVER!!!! I pushed 1 more time and he was born into my arms at 11:35.

Everyone was crying and we got him all cleaned off and my mom went to wake the kids up so that they could met him. They were all half awake but they were smitten with him. I delivered the placenta and I got checked...no tears, just a bit of a scratch. I got to take a bath to get cleaned up and nurse him. He never got taken away from me.

Then comes the part when I freaked out. They weighed him and said that he was 8lbs 9oz!!! My other 3, were all 6lb babies, so I was expecting him to be the same. He was 2lbs bigger than my biggest and I pushed him out AND didn't tear.

I got tucked in for the night around 2 am and DH and I stayed up staring at him until 3:30am. I look back on the birth and I'm SO happy with how everything turned out. At no point was I hurried or rushed. I never felt like I couldn't do it or made to feel like it was an emergency. Even though we aren't going to have any more, if I was I would go with another home birth. It was such an amazing experience